The British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland Launches The Big Stitch and Challenges Belfast to Get Crafty

The British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland (BHF NI) is calling on all crafty shoppers from Belfast to help beat heart disease by taking part in The Big Stitch campaign.

Launching on 1st July for two weeks, style seekers can help raise vital funds for life saving heart research, by buying an item from the Belfast BHF NI shop and adding their own personal stamp to it. The best will be in with a chance of winning one of three fantastic prizes.

The Belfast BHF NI shop, based at 24 Castle Street, Belfast is one of 530 BHF clothing and accessory shops across the UK. BHF shops are full of amazing finds that can easily be adapted to suit your personal style, through utilising basic sewing skills and adding decorative items.

Each item sold in BHF NI shops will help to raise money to transform the lives of around 46,500 people from Belfast, living with heart and circulatory diseases. With around 3,707 people in Northern Ireland devastatingly losing their lives to conditions including heart disease, stroke and heart failure every year the charity say it is essential to accelerate research in to new treatments.

Maureen Mcelhatton, the Area Manager for the BHFNI’s Belfast shop said: “We are really excited to see shoppers from Belfast injecting their own fashion flair in to our vast range of high quality donated clothes and accessories.

“Why wait to get started on your Big Stitch project, pop down to the BHF NI Belfast shop now to start getting crafty. Not only will you be creating a truly unique piece for your wardrobe, but all items bought from BHFNI shops go towards funding research into some of the UK’s biggest killers including heart disease and stroke.”

From dresses to skirts and shirts, BHF NI shops provide a large range of quality clothing and accessories which can be turned into bespoke items at affordable prices, with all profits going towards the BHF NI’s life saving heart research.

The Big Stitch competition* will run from 1st July until 15th July 2018. Entrants are encouraged to tag the BHF in their ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, using the hashtag #TheBigStitch.

All entries will be automatically entered into The Big Stitch competition and be in with a chance of winning one of the following prizes: return flights to a top European fashion destination, a Janome 2200XT sewing machine from Sew Essential or a £50 voucher towards a dressmaking class with Sew Over It. A winner will be selected and announced on 3rd August 2018.